I have always dreamed of cosplaying for a long time... The problem is I don't know who I could be. I love anime and I've watched thousands of shows, but I never can picture my self play any of those characters.... Any ideas?

I have always dreamed of cosplaying for a long time... The problem is I don't know who I could be. I love anime and I've watched thousands of shows, but I never can picture my self play any of those characters.... Any ideas?

Partly that'll depend on what kinds of things you want to do on the costume... if you can sew, that opens up one set of costumes, but if not you'll have to go store bought, modify something, or maybe commission something from someone else. Same goes for making any props (swords, shields, armor) that the costume might use. Personally, I'm pretty limited in my sewing skills, so my cosplays tend to be of characters that have pretty generic clothing, or even just bodysuits under armor.

In general, picking a currently popular show like Attack on Titan goes over really well, so you'll get a huge response from the crowds. Or you could go a more obscure route if you can't see yourself wearing anything you know of, like an age-shifted version of a character that you already like (I've seen several examples of a young Master Roshi) , or even gender swapped.

You could go the video game route, too... or make an original character to go into an existing universe.

Since you're already in the army, would a cosplay for a military group be more fun for you, or too much like your day job? With your build, a more fighting-themed cosplay would probably suit you well, I think.

Yeah I see where you are coming from. I can sew a little. But not well enough to make a costume right now. I feel like my tattoos really limit my ability to play many characters. I just don't think I look like many characters. I was looking more for suggestions of characters I would "fit the part" for. I can take care of the costumes I know a bunch of females who cosplay in my hometown. I'm sure they are artistic enough to help me with the rest. I don't get out of the army for another 110 days. (forever) That means I have plenty of time to work on it. I'm not picky by the way, I love many different genera of anime. Romantic comedy is my favorite oddly enough. I'm also a huge fan of berserk and Sifi action like blue gender and full metal panic (one of my top 3) oh and I can't forget high school of the dead.
Sorry for the butchered English - I'm on an iPad

I have always dreamed of cosplaying for a long time... The problem is I don't know who I could be. I love anime and I've watched thousands of shows, but I never can picture my self play any of those characters.... Any ideas?

I figured it out! I wanna try jyu oh sei !! I think it wouldn't be too difficult. I just would need a wig I guess. I don't have silver hair. But I feel my build and tattoos wouldn't affect that characters vibe too badly. He is the beast king after all. What do you guys think? Sorry no photo, I'm in the iPad. No pic upload option...

I figured it out! I wanna try jyu oh sei !! I think it wouldn't be too difficult. I just would need a wig I guess. I don't have silver hair. But I feel my build and tattoos wouldn't affect that characters vibe too badly. He is the beast king after all. What do you guys think? Sorry no photo, I'm in the iPad. No pic upload option...

I think that'd be great - he's got his own tattoos (markings?), and they are in a similar style to yours. Or you could even cover some of them up with the vambraces if you were worried about them. Plenty of wig shops out there - a lot of cosplayers I know like http://www.epiccosplay.com/, I have a nice short silver wig from them that would probably be a bit too short for Jyu, but they've got a ton of styles.

I figured it out! I wanna try jyu oh sei !! I think it wouldn't be too difficult. I just would need a wig I guess. I don't have silver hair. But I feel my build and tattoos wouldn't affect that characters vibe too badly. He is the beast king after all. What do you guys think? Sorry no photo, I'm in the iPad. No pic upload option...

you could also do black hair, by the end of that one im pretty sure it turned black, thats the one where they get stuck on that planet where the plants rule dont they?

I have always wnated to cosplay too, but for i dont have the money for it

You shouldn't let tattoos stop you, it would just make whatever character you are doing that more badass :p
That said, I've never cosplayed before, I plan on doing it soon for the first time too, so I'm strolling the forum haha.

You shouldn't let tattoos stop you, it would just make whatever character you are doing that more badass :p

This^ I've seen plenty of people with tattoos cosplay as characters that don't have tattoos. If you want to cosplay a character, go for it! You shouldn't limit yourself to characters that match your look.